Modern makeover

Maria Flumiani calls the upgrades at the Stockton Art League's Elsie May Goodwin Gallery a step into the 21st century.

Lori Gilbert

Maria Flumiani calls the upgrades at the Stockton Art League's Elsie May Goodwin Gallery a step into the 21st century.

Gone are the carpets and mauve walls. In are hardwood floors and taupe paint.

"What we want to do is show a new, modern, more contemporary look and attract new members, a younger group of members," said Flumiani, a recent president of the league. "It was looking dowdy."

An anonymous donor helped cover the cost of refurbishing the Miracle Mile gallery, and after $15,000 and a monthlong closure, the gallery re-opens Tuesday with an exhibit featuring the works of Linda Abbott Trapp.

"Her type of work goes well with the new look of the gallery," Flumiani said.

Trapp, a one-time potter and weaver, is now a devoted watercolor painter who does the occasional wood sculpture.

"My work definitely is contemporary," Trapp said. "A lot of it is abstract. This (gallery overhaul) might be a suitable setting. The main thing is people are in a change mode, and when they see the refurbished gallery, they'll be ready to accept change. A lot of my work is about reacting to changes."

One of the 30 pieces she'll show explores the most recent change in her own life, a move with her husband, Bob, from Stockton to Valley Springs six months ago.

"City or country? It's an abstract painting that deals with the decision making that went into that move," Trapp said.

Moving within an hour's drive of Stockton wouldn't seem to be such of a dramatic change, given Trapp's previous moves.

A native of New York who later lived in the Midwest, Trapp, 7 1/2 months pregnant with her third child, moved in 1973 with her husband and two young girls to Ethiopia so he could take a teaching job at the university. Six weeks after their arrival, civil war broke out in the North African country, and the Trapps were offered plane tickets home. They were told they could go home or stay, if they thought they could do any good. They stayed a year and a half. She taught art to children.

"All my kids were the children of diplomats and high-ranking government officials," Trapp said. "One night their fathers were all rounded up and shot. All I had to give them was art therapy. It wasn't enough."

When she returned to the United States, she earned a master's and a doctorate degree and became a counselor. In her role as a corporate counselor, she traveled extensively. With no time to create art, she began collecting it, mostly from Latin America.

When she retired, Trapp was able to return to art and found joy in watercolors.

"It's easy to do. You can pick it up any time and when you're done, put it away. It washes away with water," she said.

No clay flying off a wheel, no loom taking up half a room. Just a set of paints, some paper and water and she was off.

Most recently, she was off to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, where she and Bob lived for five years.

The one-time deputy district attorney who'd become a marine salesman happily accepted the offer to fish the waters off Mexico.

The couple returned three years ago, and the recent move to the foothills means there are plenty of fishing holes for him to explore.

Their new home, on 3 1/2 acres with a steep, U-shaped driveway that frightens Trapp every time she leaves or returns, has provided new inspiration for the artist.

A recent trip on Pardee Lake to see bald eagles was one such impetus to create.

"I feel like I have my finger in a dike. I have so much stuff from all these years of living that wants to get expressed," Trapp said. "It's like I'm holding back a wall of information. It's exciting. Everything we do simulates art."

Being more prolific is on her agenda. Trapp is considering a transition into the competitive world of professional art but needs to build her collection.

Her current setting, she said, is right for her to create as many as two paintings a week as she moves toward a new venture.

"I can laugh at myself," Trapp said. "What am I doing starting a career at 70? What am I thinking? On the other hand, I'm not satisfied not doing it. I feel a little bit lazy competing at the level I've been competing.

"It's been rewarding. I've had wonderful, gratifying successes that I'm amazed and thrilled with. That's encouraging. I said, 'I'll try harder and see what I can do.' "

Before she makes the leap, though, she has a show at the San Joaquin County Administration Building with Art Expressions in the spring. And, of course, the Goodwin Gallery show that opens Tuesday. The art league will celebrate the grand re-opening of the gallery from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Feb. 9. A reception for Trapp follows from 5 to 7:30 p.m.

Also this month, photographer Arturo Vera will visit the gallery at 1902 Pacific Ave. from 6 to 8 p.m. Feb. 14 to demonstrate different techniques of his craft.